“I’ve been the good soldier. And I think that’s part of the reason I didn’t get traded. They know I’m not going to raise hell because I didn’t get traded when you told me that I might. I’m not going to have animosity, I’m still going to say hello to you when I see you in the morning. They think — he’s the guy they’re going to keep or have in a sticky situation, he’s the guy to do it. He’s not going to raise hell or anything. “They always say the good guys finish last, and I’ve always been that guy. I’m a good guy, I’m still here, I’m still showing up, fighting every day, literally playing for — we were playing for nothing for the majority of the second half of the season. I mean, convey the pick, but for me that’s not a goal. I’m trying to win, trying to make the playoffs, that kind of stuff.”

“In this day and age in the NBA, talent moves around so much that it’s almost like there’s no value to that identity that you have with the city,” said Mike Conley Sr., Conley’s father and agent. “So that part is tough, but that’s part of the business now. “So, if the Grizzlies are in a rebuild, Mike can’t be around for that. It’s unfair to put him in that situation. He’s given too much to the program and to the city for him to have to be put through that. So, I hope whatever they end up doing, they do the right thing by him.”

“It’s just really late in my career, and I want to have a chance to win,” Conley said. “I want to be able to contend and compete or have an opportunity. Whether that’s here or anywhere, I’d love to have that opportunity, but I love Memphis. I love being here. I love all of the things we’ve created and still are creating. But if they’re willing to trade me to help force that rebuild, then I am all for competing for championships and other things like that elsewhere.”

“First half just looking at the bench and seeing Marc being on the bench, just cheering, it was like man, this is it,” Conley said. “It crossed my mind, every timeout, just looking at the crowd, looking back at the bench, coaches and players and seeing my wife and kids in the stands, the same spot they’ve been in for 12 seasons. Just trying to take it all in. If it is the last time, don’t want to leave anything, no regrets.”

According to a league source, Detroit and Memphis had a conversation about Gasol a month ago but nothing manifested from those early engagements. So, now that the process of elimination has killed any suspense, Conley is very much on Detroit’s radar. According to a league source, as it stands now, the Pistons and the Jazz are the two frontrunners in the Conley Sweepstakes.

In order to potentially tip Memphis away from the Jazz’s offer, which will likely involve Ricky Rubio, a 2019 first-round pick and an assortment of contracts to make the finances match up, Detroit will have to go one step further in the asset department. Jackson and a first-round pick won’t get it done. Rubio’s contract comes off the book next year, so in order for the Grizzlies to be enticed to hold onto Jackson for another year, the Pistons will likely have to add in second-year guard Luke Kennard, who is of interest to Memphis, according to a league source, and the only tangible asset on the roster.

Memphis says they’ve received offers including better first round picks than the Jazz’s — currently slated to be the No. 19 pick — from teams around the league. One team reportedly also interested in Conley is the Detroit Pistons, sources said. As a result, the Jazz may have to weigh whether or not to include additional picks or assets if they choose to acquire Conley before Thursday’s trade deadline.

Marc Gasol and Mike Conley are available. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported tonight that the Grizzlies would explore the trade market for each player ahead of the Feb. 7 NBA trade deadline, and this was subsequently confirmed to The Daily Memphian by a source with knowledge of the team’s thinking. It doesn’t mean that a trade for either (much less both) will happen in the next couple of weeks, but what was almost certainly already a possibility now becoming so transparently public probably makes it more likely.

D’Antoni said a lot of work has already been done toward completing a contract extension. “It’s a good ways (into it). I don’t do it. That’s my agent. He takes care of that stuff. They’ve been discussing it for a long time now. It just hasn’t been a couple weeks. It’s been awhile that they’ve been talking. So they’ll figure it out. “Everybody likes security. It’s just a matter of okay this is the direction the organization wants to go. I want to be a part of it. It’s just normal business and we just got to take care of business.”